Father's Brains and Mother's Attitude
by Kimiz
Summary: Shikadai might have his father's looks and brains, but he's got a little more Temari in him than she would have thought.


Well hello there, fellow shippers! I do so love me the smell of my ships turning canon in the morning. I know it's been a while but I felt like I just had to celebrate our newfound canon-ness. And I am so in love with that little bugger Shikadai! I just want a whole spinoff on him and his little friends. That being said, I read some comments on his little cameo at the 700, and someone said that he seemed to have a little bit of Temari-ness in him by the way he scolded Bolt instead of just complaining like Shikamaru would probably have done. So I thought it'd be funny if he had a bit of an attitude problem.

Naruto, of course, does not belong to me. And I hope you guys enjoy this!

**Father's Brains and Mother's Attitude**

Temari was surprised when the Academy chunnin knocked on her office's door to deliver her a note from Shikadai's teacher requesting she stay for a chat when she went to pick him up. He was a good kid most of the time, and even if he did sometimes use his Nara genius to get in trouble with Naruto's kid, he had his father's lazy streak. He'd rather give the boy a plan, sit nearby and watch, which would usually only get him a light scolding. Being summoned to talk about him was new.

When she got to the Academy, her six-year-old evil mastermind was standing on the hallway outside his classroom with his arms crossed and nose stuck in the air with an expression that was pure Sabaku stubbornness.

The bug kid Shikamaru was friends with was standing in the doorway looking stern. Well, she guessed he looked stern, he had those weird ass glasses thing on. She couldn't really tell what he actually looked like. When her son spotted her, he raised his chin even higher and refused to look ashamed. Temari raised her eyebrows at him, half amused at his attitude and half concerned. Shikadai usually knew better than to try and wiggle out of a punishment when he did something wrong; he'd shuffle his feet, give her the puppy eyes, but resigned himself to his fate once none of that worked. And he wasn't shuffling his feet now, so it had been more than just a prank.

"Temari-san, if you could accompany me," bug man called.

"What d'you do, kid?"she mumbled to her son. He shrugged.

"You can come in with your mother, Shikadai," What's-his-name Aburame said.

They marched into the classroom. Temari sat on one of the chairs that had been placed in front of the teacher's table while… Shiba? Maybe? Shiba took his seat across from them and crossed his fingers. It was all very solemn. He stared in her son's general direction as if waiting for him to spill the beans. Shikadai had climbed the chair beside hers and crossed his arms, staring at the ceiling as if the entire situation was of no concern to him.

"Alright then, what happened?" she asked, finally.

"Temari-san, we found your son brawling with one of his classmates after class."

That gave her pause.

"He did what?" she asked, blinking, "You did what?" she repeated to her boy.

He just shrugged. She half expected Naruto or Kiba to jump out of a closet and go 'Ha! Gotcha!', but Shiba was very serious. She looked back down to her little terror.

"Well, did you win?"

Shikadai snickered. Shiba wasn't very amused.

It wasn't Shiba, what was it? Shun? Shin? Shino! That was it.

"Temari-san, this is very serious."

"Am I laughing?" she snapped.

"His classmate is in a really bad shape right now," Shino said pointedly.

Temari looked her son over. His clothes might be a bit rumpled and dirty, but there wasn't a scratch on him. "So you did win."

Shino rubbed his temples. "Mrs. Nara," he started, clearly losing his patience.

"Look, sensei, I know my son. He's a brat? Yes. But he doesn't go around beating up other children for the hell of it. I'm sure he had a reason."

Both adults turned to the six-year-old who was currently busying himself by picking leaves off his clothes with a bored expression that was so Shikamaru in a snippy mood she could guess Shino recognized too. He wasn't doing anything he didn't want to.

"Tell us your version of what happened, Shikadai," His teacher tried anyway.

Shikadai looked pointedly at his sensei in a way that was so disdaining it immediately went from Shikamaru in a snippy mood to Kankuro being a little shit. Temari almost snorted. At least she now knew there was some Sabaku in him beyond those green eyes of his.

"No," he snapped.

She did snort then. Shino glared at her. Or at least she guessed he was by the growing tense atmosphere.

"This is why we called you, Temari-san. He refuses to tell us what happened and he won't apologize either."

"I'm not sorry," her boy said as way of explanation.

She did her best to hold her amusement back. "Go on, son, tell me what happened," she prompted.

He sent her a long suffering look. "Do I have to?"

"Well, no, you can say nothing and get grounded for being a little beast. Your choice."

He rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, making sure to make his displeasure widely known before giving in. "Akira was making fun of Inojin 'cause he's shy and he likes flowers, so I punched him in the face and I told him if he said something mean to my friends again I will knock his teeth out so he can't say anything at all," he said, non-chalant and completely unapologetic.

Temari burst into laughter. Shikadai preened a little in his chair. He was _proud _of it, the little bugger! He was going around kicking bully asses and he was proud of it. She grinned at him. Hell, _she_ was proud of him. She couldn't wait to tell Shikamaru this one. Chouji and Ino would have a fit.

Shino sighed. _He _didn't seem to approve. "I understand the sentiment, Shikadai, but using violence against your comrades is wrong. You know we do not solve our problems like that."

"Anymore, you mean," Temari grumbled.

"Mrs. Nara, you're not helping."

"I'm not trying to help. Some kid was bullying his friend and he made sure it stopped. I don't see a problem with that. If his method bothers you, we'll do something about it, but you talk to the other brat too."

Shino stared at them both sternly for a few seconds – or, you know, she thought he did – but in the end just nodded his assent. He gave Shikadai another little speech about building a bond with your classmates and not using violence lightly and let them go.

Shikadai left the building with head held high (a ridiculous, adorable thing in such a tiny boy), but his proud stutter diminished with every step. Once they'd left Academy grounds he seemed to deflate completely. He dragged his feet for a bit until he just stopped. When Temari realized her son wasn't beside her, she looked back. He was standing there giving her the puppy eyes and shuffling his feet.

There it was.

"I'm not mad, Shikadai."

"You're not?" he seemed really surprised. "But you told Shino-sensei you'd do something about it."

She walked back to him and crouched down to be on his eye-level. "Listen, you do know that Shino-sensei is right and you shouldn't just go around beating people up, don't you?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Well, I think standing by and letting your friend be teased is even worse. So here, I'll do something about it," she raised her hand, palm outwards. He stared at her in confusion. She nodded to her open palm. "Come on, high five."

Shikadai grinned, wide and bright, her green eyes shining madly in a face that was all his father's. He smashed his palm to hers and they shared a maniac, firecracker smile. Temari jumped to her feet and grabbed her son's hand.

"Wait until we tell your uncles that one. Did you really tell that brat you'd knock his teeth out?"

"Well, yeah! He was being mean!"

He had his father's brains and her attitude. She grinned to herself. He was going to take the world by storm someday.

Later, when Shikamaru got home from a whole day of "advisor-ing", as Temari called it, she practically jumped him by the door.

"Shikamaru, we should have more kids, we are clearly rocking this parenting thing."


End file.
